One More Time
by Adelviceroy
Summary: After bringing peace to the world and finally beginning the process of becoming Hokage, Naruto is feeling pretty good about the direction his life is going. Then Sasuke had to be an asshat. Not that that's surprising.- No Romance. Rated M for language.
1. Surpise, Surpise

**Disclaimer: I am not Masashi Kishimoto, therefore I don't own the intellectual property that is Naruto.**

 **Chapter 1**

Zzzzz

*ring* *ring*

Crusty eyes opened to the sight of a dilapidated ceiling above him.

'Did I go on a bender last night?'

Taking a moment to stifle his headache, he tried to process what was going on.

'I was helping Kakashi-Sensei deal with paperwork last night, screw Tsunade for making 'Hokage Preparatory' duties sound exciting, downed a couple bowls at Ichiraku's, and then headed home to catch some shut-eye'

Naruto took a moment to gather his thoughts… realizing he was in his old apartment, the one that had been destroyed years ago when Nagato attacked the village…

"…."

No way, that thought was too ridiculous to even fathom. Knowing that he probably wouldn't be happy with the results regardless he forced himself out of bed, and opened his curtains, allowing light to flood into his dainty apartment.

Looking outside, he decided his headache was REALLY messing with his senses. He closed the curtains, hopped back in bed and decided he would deal with whatever problems he may or may not be having when he felt capable of actually forming rational thoughts.

Naruto's new course of action was going swimmingly until he heard a tapping at his window.

Deciding that, no, he still wasn't trying to get out of bed, he determined he would just ignore it. If it were that important Kakashi would've sent Anbu to grab him, and those guys didn't understand the meaning of etiquette when it came to alerting ninja that their presence was required by the Hokage.

Rolling over to fully encompass himself within his blankets, Naruto was just reaching that point where he was comfortable and was no longer restlessly moving his feet around, when the world's biggest bastard decided to show himself.

Of course he couldn't do it like a normal person though, oh nooooo, being the high and mighty Last Uchiha, he had to be a complete douche and perform a low-powered Chidori Nagashi, filling the apartment with electricity from where he previously was at the window.

Naruto, becoming partially numb from the electricity coursing through him, decided that he wouldn't give Sasuke the pleasure of forcing him to get out of bed. He retreated into his mindscape, appearing before his longtime friend Kurama without a word before lying down in the ankle deep water trying to fall back asleep.

"Come closer human **"**

Naruto skillfully ignored the request

Kurama began growling, shaking the walls and foundations of Naruto's minds cape

"Kurama, can you chill out, I'm trying to sleep"

" **…** "

"Zzzz"

"Who told you that name"

"Zzzz"

Kurama, who's anger was now reaching fever pitch, roared while attempting to force as much chakra out of the seal to overwhelm Naruto. The rapid influx of energy forced Naruto out of his placid state, sitting up to directly address Kurama.

"Dude, you've gotta chill, I've got a killer headache, which by the way thanks for not dealing with, and…?"

It was then that Naruto noticed the giant gate with a seal in the middle of it, separating Kurama from him.

"…"

"…Did I go on a bender last night and reseal you?"

Personally, Kurama felt as if he was at a loss of words. 'Has my jailer gone insane? Perhaps I can capitalize on this **'**

 **"** …Yes?"

"My bad, I've been pretty slow on the uptake today", Naruto stated while rubbing his temples, beginning to stand up and walk towards the giant gate. Taking notice of how short his stride length is, he finally took a minute to evaluate himself, realizing he was small.

Not small like Sakura's chakra reserves (Ha!), but he definitely was shorter than when he went to bed last night.

Being alarmed at this new development, which he realistically should've realized the moment he got out of bed the first time, he quickly took stock of everything that had occurred today so far.

...

"Wait, what do you mean 'who told you that name?'"

Kurama had the audacity to look abashed, turning his head away from Naruto.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but as you stated yourself you resealed me last night, so undo the seal"

Something was up… Maybe some probing was in order.

"Yea forsure, I'll get right to it then… By the way, what's your thought's on the Fourth Hokage?"

"I'D RIP THAT MAN TO SHREDS IF HE WEREN'T ALREADY IN THE BELLY OF THE SHINIGAMI **"** Kurama defiantly roared in anger.

Naruto nodded to himself, placing his hand on his chin and nodding wisely with his eyes closed, "Ok, I'll admit to being pretty dense and not being sure what's going on, but you're definitely not the Kurama I know. You and dad made up when he sealed your Yin-half into me after you were extracted by Madara"

"…What the fuck? **"** Now it was Kurama's turn to be confused. How could this brat know about his dad was the Fourth, much less know who Uchiha Madara is?

Naruto, remembering that Sasuke had previously been breaking into his apartment, quickly left his mindscape to return to the real world.

—

"What did yo do"

"…I don't quite know what you're referring to"

"Cut the bullshit before I talk Kakashi into enacting a 'National Uchiha Appreciation Day', lets see what happens when Sakura's body count goes 50+ after fighting off fangirls and she decides it would be better to just disfigure you permanently"

"…"

"…'

"Hn"

"I never go back on my word Sasuke…"

Sasuke, quickly realizing that Naruto wasn't completely joking, coughed a couple times to cover his surprise before clearing his throat.

"I may, or may not, have spoken the Sage of Six Paths, whereupon we both agreed it may, or may not, be a good idea to try saving Itachi so as to reduce the amount of casualties during the 4th Shinobi War"

Naruto, not really being sure how to react, simply sighed while rubbing the root of his nose

"Think about how many lives could be saved! If we could get Tsunade to cure Itachi, he would be an incredible resource during Pain's invasion and in figuring out what Obito was doing before he declared the 4th Shinobi War!"

"So you're telling me you basically tossed aside all the hard work and struggle that resulted in us successfully bringing peace tot he world, just so you could go back to being a little puppy that follows Itachi everywhere"

Pausing to fully comprehend was Naruto said, Sasuke had to admit that Naruto's assertion was fairly accurate.

"…I wouldn't have stated it like that, but your logic is sound"

"Do you realize how lucky we were to even get as far as we did? If Haku wasn't such a softie we'd have all died during our first real mission. Hell the only reason you didn't become Orochimaru's skin is because you literally surprise attacked him when he, or maybe she, was the equivalent of a paraplegic, and you STILL almost died if not for using a visual genjutsu from the Sharingan"

Sasuke cursed under his breathe, regretting ever telling Naruto about that, but he went a different direction to appease Naruto.

"We can save everybody. Haku was a major part in you becoming who are today, imagine if we could save him, or her, and have extra help when the big enemies start coming out of the woodwork"

Naruto sighed, "It sounds like regardless of my thoughts on this, you and Grandpa Sage already rolled the dice"

"Exactly. Might as well make the best of it" Sasuke commented cautiously, not sure whether Naruto was done giving a fuck, or about to fuck him up.

Moving back to his curtain, he threw it open and looked toward the Hokage Monument, seeing a definitive lack of Tsunade's, Kakashi's, and he partially built face on it.

"Screw you Teme"

 **Author Note: Hey everyone, I'd been bouncing around ideas and just wanted to put words on paper, so I busted this out in like 20 minutes to see whether my writing was fluid. I'm not sure if I'll be continuing along this idea as it was a quick idea I thought would be an ok premise to write a chapter on. If it's absolute trash, I'd appreciate you leaving a review to let me know, along with any specific criticism's you may have that could improve my writing. Thanks for all your time, and happy holidays!**


	2. First Day Out

Naruto and Sasuke sat at opposite ends of the table in Naruto's kitchen, silently staring at each other.

Being one of two rooms in Naruto's small apartment, with the other being the bedroom, this was deemed the only acceptable location to further their discussion about what madness Sasuke had wrought.

Naruto, finally having lost his patience, finally blurted out, "Well, aren't you going to say something?"

Sasuke continued to stoically stare at Naruto, as if he were waiting for something.

"Hn"

"By the Log, Sasuke, It's not even 10am and I'm already sick of your bullshit"

"...Aren't you going to be a good host and serve me some tea?"

At this point, Naruto wasn't sure whether Sasuke was intentionally trying to piss him off. But it was definitely working.

"Sasuke, If I even had a modicum of a belief that this may all be a genjutsu and my actions would have no effect on the real world, I'd shove a Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken so far up your ass you wouldn't be able to speak without consistently releasing bijuudama's from your mouth."

Sasuke raised his hand pointedly and made to open his mouth, but then paused and closed his mouth while replacing his hands on his lap.

"I'll take that as a no then"

"Get out"

'Well, that went nowhere'

Naruto was wandering around Konoha, taking in the sights and reminiscing about the calmness that lay over the village. A calmness that had disappeared and never returned since the tragedy that was Pain. He was initially surprised at the vitriolic looks he was getting from the general populace as he walked through the streets, it was something he hadn't experienced since Nagato revived the village. He didn't blame the villagers though, they weren't capable of understanding the intricacies behind sealing and the majority of them lost their important people during the Nine-Tails attack on the village. He was willing to take on their hate as long as it took for them to heal, even if they didn't deserve it.

He still wasn't sure what Sasuke's problem was, as he was being even more difficult than usual, but he was of the opinion that he may as well try to gather his bearings considering Sasuke was literally useless. Hopefully he could run into someone else he knew and figure out what year it was. Considering what his last day had consisted of so far, it was high time his cosmically fortunate luck kicked in.

"Yo"

...Speak of the devil.

"Heya Kakashi-Sensei!"

Kakashi, not bothering to look away from the ever-present book in his hand, hummed softly before directing his one visible eye sharply at Naruto.

"How are you?"

Alarms were already blaring in Naruto's head, 'Kakashi never bothered to ask about our personal lives, I doubt he'd even waste the effort required to speak without there being some distinct purpose'

While Kakashi was always a bit of an anomaly, it was undeniable that he was both incredibly lazy and incredibly observant, always seeming to work in mysterious ways to accomplish his goals.

Reaching up to rub the back of his head, damn him for never managing to get over that nervous tic, Naruto chuckled awkwardly.

"Haha, waddya mean Kakashi-Sensei?"

"I noticed Sasuke hanging around your apartment earlier today. I've never seen you two together outside of training."

Damn. Leave it to Kakashi to notice that, whether through physically posting outside his apartment or sensing Sasuke's very distinct chakra signature.

...

Fuck. Their chakra signatures.

Kakashi was an incredible sensor, and there were obvious changes in his and Sasuke's chakra signatures from when they were actually twelve.

While Naruto could potentially explain his off as having had a bad dream involving Kurama, wherein Kakashi could assume the seal was weakening, Sasuke's chakra held the weight of all the poor decisions he made in his past life.

His chakra was dark. Calm, silently brooding under the surface, ready to spring up at a moments notice. There was no way to explain how Sasuke's chakra nature underwent such a drastic change over the course of one day. That's without taking into account that Sasuke's chakra no longer displayed the jaggedness of lightning nature and aggression of fire nature, considering the Rinnegan removed his chakra natures and instead gave him equal capability to use all five - including Yin and Yang.

Naruto had been quiet for almost too long, Kakashi's eye beginning to narrow. It was time to pull a classic Kakashi-Sensei misdirection. Play dumb and deflect.

"Haha yea the Teme was mad I dyed his underwear orange, another successful prank from the Prank-King of Konoha!"

Naruto finished with a flourish, throwing his right arm up in the victory sign.

Kakashi's eye maintained its serious demeanor, but he eventually turned back to his book, further slouching his back and beginning to walk away.

"Hmmm. Ok then, see you at Training Ground 7 tomorrow for team training. 7am."

And then he was gone in a quick Body Flicker to who knows where. Hopefully that didn't go as bad as he thought it did.

"He's on the way to the Hokage right now. We're probably going to be under surveillance, if not taken in to have a nice conversation with Ibiki"

'Worse then I thought then'.

Looking up, Naruto saw Sasuke perched on the branch of a tree, having teleported there via Amenotejikara after Kakashi's presence left the area, "Nice of you to show up, Sasuke... Not like this entire scenario isn't entirely your fault."

"We're not here to appease Kakashi and the Hokage, we're here to secure a better future"

Slapping his own forehead, Naruto sighed, "Dude, we're thirteen years old and Genin, you seriously think we'll be capable of accomplishing anything with the Hokage on our ass? Also cut the bullshit with the better future, our future was fucking phenomenal and you just needed an excuse to cuddle Itachi. I wouldn't be surprised if you were into some weird incestual shit."

Sasuke began to sputter, "I'm not even going to dignify that second part with a response.. In regards to getting stuff done, we could always leave the village if we need."

Naruto gave a serious glare towards Sasuke, "No."

Sasuke paused to think on what options they had available, "I won't be able to hide the changes in my chakra from any sensors, not to mention not being able to turn off my Rinne-Sharingan, so there's no way we can play this off."

Naruto began backpedaling while waving his hands in front of him

"Woah, woah, woah, don't lump me in with your problems, you're entirely responsible for everything occurring right now."

Sasuke involuntarily showed the first signs of emotion, usually managing to keep up a stoic facade, but in this instance the tip of his ears began to redden.

"Yea, to be honest, I wasn't in the best state of mind last night"

Interesting... It took quite a bit to unbalance Sasuke, so what was going on last night? Today's June 10th.

Ahh. June 9th. Itachi's birthday.

"I understand you drinking in memory of Itachi, but could you at least explain what exactly went down?"

Sasuke paused, whether to gather his thoughts or in response to mention of Itachi, Naruto wasn't sure.

Sighing, Sasuke explained as best as he could.

"Nope"

"Nope?"

"Yep"

"I'd appreciate a a response longer than one syllable."

"I got a bit too deep in my memories, and ended up pretty blackout. I have only vague recollection of reappearing in front of the Sage of Six Path's in that alternate dimension, having some sort of vague conversation about Itachi, where I may or MAY NOT have cried, and then I woke up here. I filled in the holes as much as I could and went to touch base with you this morning ASAP."

"...And you couldn't have just told me that? Instead you felt the need to Chidori my entire apartment? There is literally zero percent chance Old Man Hokage didn't see that from his crystal ball"

Sasuke stared at him blankly, "His what?"

Naruto sighed for what felt like the 100th time today, and it still wasn't even noon. "forget about it... what do you suggest we do, considering it's clear I'm being dragged around along with any of your problems."

Sasuke looked off into the distance, as if he saw something, "I'd say our only option right now is going to the Hokage Tower"

Quiet footfalls sounded close behind Naruto, at a distance that showed the sound was being made merely as a method of being polite enough to let Naruto know someone was approaching, as the individual had almost entirely snuck up on both Naruto and Sasuke.

Surrounded by his ANBU guard, the Third Hokage slowly looked over Sasuke, and then Naruto.

"Indeed, it would be best if you both came peacefully"

Phrased as a polite request, there was no doubt in either of their minds that not following the Third's orders would be incredibly detrimental to their health. The kindly visage portraying the grandfather of the entire village was gone, replaced with the hardened profile of the Professor, one of two Ninja who had lived through all three Shinobi World Wars.

Definitely not a man to be trifled with.


End file.
